


Mixtapes and Shit

by avery_the_werm



Series: If Mike Wheeler was Richie Tozier’s (older) cousin [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: And V Gay, Christmas Fluff, Coming Out, Crushes, First Kiss, Holly is around 10, Holly’s a sneaky bitch but whatever ig, Idiots in Love, Internalized Homophobia, Love Confessions, M/M, Mike is 19, Period-Typical Homophobia, Richie Tozier and Mike Wheeler Are Cousins, Richie is 14, and can drive, mentions of vomiting, well more like fear of people finding out, what a cool mf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:15:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28894974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avery_the_werm/pseuds/avery_the_werm
Summary: Richie (sorta) confesses through a mixtape. Does it go well? Yes. Was he a disaster the whole fucking time? Also yes.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: If Mike Wheeler was Richie Tozier’s (older) cousin [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119137
Comments: 4
Kudos: 53





	Mixtapes and Shit

**Author's Note:**

> TW for internalized homophobia(sorta) and CW for mentions of vomiting

**Christmas Eve, 1990**

Richie Tozier has been head over heals for Eddie Kaspbrak as soon as he laid eyes on him in the first grade. When he realized it in the fifth, he wasn’t quite sure what to do. He just kind of settled on letting it happen. Lately though, he wanted Eddie to know.

That was different from what he had heard about crushes. Usually people tried to hide them, and he used to want to do that, but that feeling seemed to be going away.

And as soon as he recognized it was leaving, he got out a notebook, and made a huge fucking list of songs.

///

Now, here he was, sitting shotgun of his older cousin’s car with a mixtape in hand. They were coming home from buying hot chocolate, and Richie was planning on giving it to Eddie on the way back.

_Maybe it’s not the best idea to confess with the risk of people seeing. Especially since it’s the fucking 80s and your crush is a boy, dipshit._

He wasn’t sure how his cousin felt about gay people. What if Mike found out through this, and word spread? They weren’t exactly fond of each other.

He didn’t even know how _Eddie_ felt about gay people!

Richie was about to fuck this shit, and throw the mixtape out or something. Maybe listen to it in secret with hopes that Eddie never finds it. But low and behold, Mike starts driving down Eddie’s street, and Richie tells him to stop the car.

_Fucking idiot._

He gets out and knocks on the front door, only having 10 minutes.

_ShitshitshitshityoufuckingidiotohmygoD_

His mind goes blank when he sees Eddie wrapped up in a blanket. All he can think about is how adorable it is, and the fact his face is too red to blame on the cold right now.

He straightens up, and tries to crack a joke, but his palms are sweaty and his mouth is dry.

“Richie?” He asks, looking pretty damn angry. “What the fuck? It’s like twenty degrees outside.” 

Richie watches Eddie as he closes the door behind him, and immediately considers booking it. Then locking himself up in his room to think about never contemplating confessing again. Instead, he opens his stupid fucking mouth. “I made you somethin Eds. Cuz ya know...Christmas.”

His voice came out cracked, but whatever. He can’t fucking go back now.

“Oh.”

Eddie looks surprised. Richie couldn’t blame him. The last thing he made Eddie was that fucking valentine in fourth grade. The colors sucked, but it was cute.

Richie held out the mixtape. He swore he was about to throw up or some shit. Maybe he should, and Eddie wouldn’t take it.

But, he didn’t end up throwing up, and Eddie had no reason to deny the gift.

_Fucking great._

“Woah! I didn’t know you made mixtapes, Tozier.” Eddie said as he examined the tape. It was getting strangely warm for the middle of Winter. Then again, his coat was heavy.

“Only for you, Spaghetti.” Which was true actually. He went to the library just to get a fucking tutorial on making them.

“But if this is full of love songs or some shit, I’m going to fucking murder you.” 

_Fair..._

“Would it be bad if it was?” _Damn, that was smoother than fucking silk._ Eddie looks up at Richie, who’s breath is caught in his throat at the heart attack his friend’s doe fucking eyes were about to give him. Eddie’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“As a joke though. Right?” Richie heart drops to the ground at that. Might as well fucking break.

Maybe Eddie just didn’t like guys. Not that that would be bad. As long as he was happy, ya know? It would just suck for Richie, but he’d get over it.

_Maybe just take the tape back._

“I mean, not really.” _Fuck your stupid mouth oh my fucking god._ ”But it’s not because they remind me of you or anything! Just that so many songs are about love, Eds. What else was I supposed to fill it with?” _Okay. That wasn’t too bad. Just keep going and don’t say anything stupid._

“Christmas songs?”

“Yeah, but those are fucking stupid.”

“I like them...” 

_Stop giving opinions on shit. Noted._

”Right.” Eddie looks back at his house, and Richie just _knows_ in all fucking caps, that he has messed up, and will probably continue to do so.

“Oh!” Eddie exclaims. “I actually got you something too! Let me just get it.”

“You didn’t have to, Eds.” 

“I wanted to, though.”

“Well, at least tell Mrs. K I love her when you go insi-“

”Do you want your present or not?” Eddie questioned, rolling his eyes as he opened the door.

“Oh, Edward! Your mom’s heart is the best present I could possibly receive!” Richie laughed, feeling less tense than he was before. 

“Beep fucking beep!” Eddie called back from inside the house. Richie could almost hear the glare, which made him smile wide.

He waited outside for what felt like hours. Eddie would hear the tape, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Maybe he wouldn’t take the love songs too seriously.

He could feel the panic start to rise again, when Eddie swung the door open with the newest issue of “A _mazing Spider-Man”_ in hand _._ Richie had complained about it just a few weeks before. He had said his parents weren’t letting him get it, because he was being so “disrespectful” about his cousins coming over for the holidays. Sorry he didn’t want to share a fucking room. 

“Eds!” He said looking at the comic with wide eyes. “This is in mint condition-“ 

“I know that, dumbass.” Richie looked at him with a smile, while Eddie seemed to be averting eye contact. His face had become redder than before.

That’s when they heard a car honk.

“Times up, Richie! We gotta go.” 

_Damn it, Michael._

“I’ll be right there! Calm the fuck down.”

”Do you _want_ to walk home?”

Richie let out a groan. “ _Do you want to walk home_?” He mimicked in a high pitched voice, which Eddie laughed at.

Richie loved that laugh so fucking much.

”I should go. My cousin sucks ass, ya know?”

”Yeah...” Eddie sounded disappointed, but maybe Richie was overthinking.

Richie trudged towards the car, his boots making indentations in the snow.

”Rich!” He heard from behind him. He turned and saw Eddie running up to him.

Richie looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. Boys were really fucking confusing sometimes, but whatever.

”Is your cousin watching us right now?” Richie looked back at the car,mand saw that Mike was preoccupied with something. He turned to Eddie, who looked like his life was on the fucking line.

“All clear, Eds. Are ya gonna kiss me or somethin?” He joked.

But to his surprise, that’s exactly what Eddie did.

Eddie Kaspbrak fucking kissed him.

It lasted about five seconds, but Jesus fuck, it felt longer. When they parted, Richie tried to find words, but all he could do was gawk at the shorter boy.

”Holy shit.”

”Yeah. Holy shit.” 

Eddie offered him a nervous smile, and Richie couldn’t help but return it. God, it was getting warm.

” _Okay_. Maybe the songs _did_ make me think of you...”

Eddie’s smile got wider. “That’s _really_ fucking cool.”

Mike honked the horn again, catching them both off guard. 

And Richie _wanted_ to play it cool when he was getting into the car, but his stupid ass almost fucking tripped. Mike gave him a confused glance, while Richie wanted to drop dead. Eddie sniggered at that.

He can’t be doing all this to him in one day.

“Merry Christmas, Tozier!” Eddie called out.

”Merry Christmas, Spaghetti.”

///

The car ride home was silent, as Richie and Mike didn’t talk much. They never have besides bickering, really.

Richie was looking out the window at the trees and shit. His mind was replaying the kiss to the point where he was going crazy.

He looked down at the comic Eddie had given with a huge smile on his face. It’s something he’d done about twenty fucking times already.

_Get a fucking grip, Tozier._

He took a sip of his hot chocolate, which was more warm than hot by now. While he was doing so, Holly, who was sleeping in the backseat earlier, perked up.

”Was that your boyfriend, Richie?”

Richie felt heat rush to his face and started to choke on his drink.

_What the fuck, Holly?_

When he stopped choking(which took a whole ass minute), he looked at Holly with wide eyes. She looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.

”No? Why would you think that?!” It came out more frantic than he wanted it too.

”He _kissed_ you, man.” She laughed.

”Holly!”

Mike let out a laugh, which made Richie look at him annoyed. At least he didn’t think it was weird that Eddie had kissed him.

Richie grumbled in his seat, and looked down. “I thought you were asleep...”

”I was! I woke up, though.”

”Just don’t tell anyone, you little shit.”

”I won’t. I’m not stupid!”

”That’s hard to believe.”

Richie spent the rest of the car ride painfully enduring teasing from both his cousins, but at least they didn’t hate him.

///

That night, Richie sat on his bed, looking at the comic Eddie had given him. Every fucking time he looked at it, he wanted to scream into his pillow.

Eddie Kaspbrak kissed him.

He finally opened it and when he did a piece of paper fell out.   
  
_Probably the receipt._

Richie picked it up and as soon as he did, he knew he had been wrong. It was a note, which was weird, because Eddie never gave notes with gifts.

_Hey Richie,_

_You might hate me after this, so fingers crossed. Also, if you’re reading this out loud, stop. This is private. If you read it out loud, you’re fucking dead. So...I kind of, sort of realized that I like you??? Like how boyfriends and girlfriends like each other. Weird, right? Anyway, just thought I’d let you know, because It’s been killing me or whatever._ ~~ _You_~~ ~~can also ignore this note, and just pretend I never gave it to you if you want.~~ _Hope you like the comic, you dick._

_Eddie_

Richie read the note over and over, as heat rushed to his face.

_He likes you._

_Holy shit, he likes you._

Then, Richie really _did_ scream into his pillow. Jesus, was today real? If today was a dream he was going to literally slap himself or some shit.

He looked outside his window, watching the snowflakes fall. He knew _damn_ well he was fucked.

Because he just fell for Eddie Kaspbrak harder.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked the story shawties.
> 
> ~Ave~


End file.
